Page 307 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 307
disaster management and integr ated economy in early modern japan
inhabitants (Ōtani 1986; 1996a; 1996b). As T. C. Smith mentioned, “labo-
ur employed in the construction and maintenance of roads and irrigation
works had a distinct benefit for the peasant; far from being an economic
loss, such labour may properly be considered a form of involuntary inve-
stment that yielded long-run returns to him” (Smith 1988b, Land Tax, 61).
Although government aid was sometimes available in the restoration
process after large floods, it would never be granted in large fires – not even
in one that burnt down not only the houses of 540 people (15%) of a vil-
lage population of approximately 3,600 people, but also the residence of
the shoya and the village shrine. Unlike floods, which caused great dam-
age upon rice and other crop fields, in disasters such as fires that imposed
large damage on residential land, inter-village networks for mutual assis-
tance functioned as lifelines. It would not be an exaggerated judgment to
conclude that the decisive factor in emergency relief support and the res-
toration process to follow were mutual aid between villages and the kin-
ship network of the shoya family. Aid and large numbers of workers (Table
12.2) came from the Ōe-gumi, especially from Imatomi, where the Yoshi-
uzu’s brother was shoya. Needless to say, the self-support of the villagers of
Takahama contributed greatly to village restoration. Moreover, Table 12.1
and Map 12.4 show that the village was provided salt from Sakitsu village,
where the population had been on the decrease due to the spread of small-
pox. Rope and construction material were also offered in accordance with
the supply capacity of each farming village. Wood and timber were suppos-
edly brought in from villages where wood resources were naturally availa-
ble. Such resources were bought when village funds were available, but were
sometimes accepted as donations.
The mutual aid performed after fires are evidence of economic integ-
rity in a region. Almost every village had a special product to provide. It
is also evident that kumi-based networks comprising several administra-
tive villages enabled the maintenance of villages. Even if, as Totman states,
the political ideals of 17th century Japan had been the self-sustainability of
villages, and even if this concept had been retained until the Meiji era and
even beyond, villages of the later years of Tokugawa Japan could not sur-
vive disasters alone if they were isolated and excluded from the established
social network of villages. An integrated economy should be considered not
only within the family and a village but also within a certain regional unit
of villages and village networks.
305
inhabitants (Ōtani 1986; 1996a; 1996b). As T. C. Smith mentioned, “labo-
ur employed in the construction and maintenance of roads and irrigation
works had a distinct benefit for the peasant; far from being an economic
loss, such labour may properly be considered a form of involuntary inve-
stment that yielded long-run returns to him” (Smith 1988b, Land Tax, 61).
Although government aid was sometimes available in the restoration
process after large floods, it would never be granted in large fires – not even
in one that burnt down not only the houses of 540 people (15%) of a vil-
lage population of approximately 3,600 people, but also the residence of
the shoya and the village shrine. Unlike floods, which caused great dam-
age upon rice and other crop fields, in disasters such as fires that imposed
large damage on residential land, inter-village networks for mutual assis-
tance functioned as lifelines. It would not be an exaggerated judgment to
conclude that the decisive factor in emergency relief support and the res-
toration process to follow were mutual aid between villages and the kin-
ship network of the shoya family. Aid and large numbers of workers (Table
12.2) came from the Ōe-gumi, especially from Imatomi, where the Yoshi-
uzu’s brother was shoya. Needless to say, the self-support of the villagers of
Takahama contributed greatly to village restoration. Moreover, Table 12.1
and Map 12.4 show that the village was provided salt from Sakitsu village,
where the population had been on the decrease due to the spread of small-
pox. Rope and construction material were also offered in accordance with
the supply capacity of each farming village. Wood and timber were suppos-
edly brought in from villages where wood resources were naturally availa-
ble. Such resources were bought when village funds were available, but were
sometimes accepted as donations.
The mutual aid performed after fires are evidence of economic integ-
rity in a region. Almost every village had a special product to provide. It
is also evident that kumi-based networks comprising several administra-
tive villages enabled the maintenance of villages. Even if, as Totman states,
the political ideals of 17th century Japan had been the self-sustainability of
villages, and even if this concept had been retained until the Meiji era and
even beyond, villages of the later years of Tokugawa Japan could not sur-
vive disasters alone if they were isolated and excluded from the established
social network of villages. An integrated economy should be considered not
only within the family and a village but also within a certain regional unit
of villages and village networks.
305
